Posted Under: Business, Marketing, Planning, Small Business, Startup

But what would I do…No one in my family ever did… Oh yes, I remember, Uncle Charlie tried selling “cruise” vacations on his internet based business which he ended up paying a few hundred dollars to start but never sold a single vacation, we all remember how grumpy he was talking about that being a scam… My niece ran a lemonade stall which ran out of business in a few hours… Didn’t Aunt Susie try selling some handicrafts, oh no, but she only sold it to a couple of neighbors and that was it… I’ll never be able to start a business, it’s just not in our family… Plus, I don’t have that kind of money … How will I pay my bills, if I don’t make any money from the business and what an embarrassment it would be if I fail…where will I go, what would I do… It’s a bad idea.

But I’m bored and tired of my job, this just isn’t what I want to do…What should I do, may be I’ll change the job, or go to school, finish my degree and go back to the workforce on supervisor role.

Oh my God, it all sounds just like me. Doesn’t it?

All of us without any exception (in my opinion) do face the above dilemma at least once in our life…where we are not feeling content, and we want to do more with life and our career and/or profession… How do we know, if it’s time to change the job, or go back to school, or start a business?

Well, if you’re in such dilemma, its time to do some self assessment and situation analysis. And in such situation, a very clear thought process is required instead of impulsive decisions…Here’s how you realistically figure out, what should you do and more importantly, what you can do.

First: Start with a list of what you like in life… What is it – Technology, Social work, Arts, Business, Accounting, Talking, People, Pets, Flexibility…what?

Second: Start prioritizing. What are your priorities in life? Success, family, money, security, recognition, specific career, flexibility…what?

Third: Situation Analysis. Do you want to start a stream of income and become self employed or you want to build a business which will hire employees and be more than self employment… Is working 40hours and not deal with the worries of business what you like or “bigger risk, bigger reward” is what stimulates you…

Fourth: What are the resources, in terms of money, time, skill set, contacts, support et all that you can bring on the table to begin with.

Now, put all four together, that should answer your question. For instance: let’s say a young professional is in such a dilemma and wants to start a business, then after this whole exercise, his thoughts would look something like: “I’m an MBA with outstanding business acumen and diverse experiences at Fortune5. I’m a big picture personality and I like solving problems, brainstorm, lead and craft strategies. I can devote 50hours a week and can be flexible for travel and additional work on weekends. I love to live my work, so I’ve no problems with after work worries about the business. I’ve $10,000 in savings that I can very well invest in my business. I’ve enough additional savings/ family support to pay my bills for 6months, so I’ll have to generate revenue within 6 months.”

Now, with this kind of self assessment, at least he knows what he has and what type of business he would suit to, which would help him streamline his thoughts and make an informed decision. And because he did this little exercise before he committed to anything out of impulse…he’d have better chances of being successful with his choice.

Anyone of us considering starting a business should remember that a business is much closer to Founder/ Owner than a job to an employee. You’d need to be self motivated to be successful in business and that you’ll be only if you find it exciting to work on. Be very cautious in choosing what to commit to…be it business, job or degree.

Good luck!